1861 – 1865

The American Civil War

A free research collection on the defining conflict of American history, fought from April 1861 to April 1865. Browse Library of Congress photographs, documented engagements, in-depth regiment histories, and an index of millions of individual soldier service records, all free to explore. For history near a specific address, every Aubrey report searches these records by location.

6.27M
soldier service records
13,655
Library of Congress photographs
10,178
documented engagements
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The war state by state
Regiments raised across 34 states

Uncover the regiments raised in each state, from the Confederate South to the wholly Union North and the divided border states, with the towns where they formed and the battles they fought.

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Regiment histories
In-depth regiment profiles

Detailed histories of Union, Confederate, and USCT regiments, each with muster dates, key engagements, and notable service records.

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Engagements
10,178 documented engagements

Every documented Civil War engagement from major battles to small skirmishes, with location, date, and outcome.

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Photographs
13,655 Library of Congress photographs

The Library of Congress Civil War photograph collection: portraits, battlefield scenes, and documentary images from the Brady-Handy archive.

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Soldiers
6.27M service records

An index of individual Civil War service records, covering name, regiment, rank, side, and state of enlistment for both Union and Confederate soldiers.

About the Civil War

When was the American Civil War?
The American Civil War was fought from April 12, 1861 to April 9, 1865, four years that reshaped the nation. The war ended slavery and preserved the Union at a cost of more than 620,000 military deaths.
How many Civil War battles were there?
Historians have documented more than 10,000 military actions during the Civil War, ranging from large pitched battles to small skirmishes. Major engagements such as Gettysburg, Antietam, and Chancellorsville involved tens of thousands of troops.
How do I find out if my ancestor fought in the Civil War?
More than 6 million individual Civil War service records survive, covering both Union and Confederate soldiers with their regiment, rank, side, and state of enlistment. Aubrey indexes these records so you can trace a soldier to their unit and the engagements that unit fought.
What Civil War photographs does Aubrey Research have?
Aubrey Research indexes more than 13,000 Civil War photographs from the Library of Congress collection, including Brady-Handy photographs, battlefield scenes, and portrait photographs of soldiers and officers.

Research Civil War history near your location

Every Aubrey US report searches Civil War regiment records, military engagements, and historic sites within your chosen radius.

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Everything a full the United States report reveals

Pick any location and Aubrey pulls together 18 strands of its history, each drawn from the record:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with historic sites, battles and Native heritage plotted, and its full story era by era.
The Land
The historic sites and place names around the location, and how this land was settled and used.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back millions of years.
LiDAR Terrain
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks and old features hidden in the landscape.
Conflict & War
The battles, raids and skirmishes fought near here, across every era of American conflict.
The Civil War
The Civil War on this ground, 1861 to 1865: who held it, and the battles, camps and regiments nearby.
The Soldiers
The men who marched from here in the Civil War, named and traced where the record allows.
Native Heritage
The Native nations who held this land, mapped across time from before European contact to today.
Settlement
Who claimed and held this ground, from Indigenous homelands through the colonial powers to the United States.
The Community
How the town grew, who came, and what kind of place it became, traced through the census record.
Rivers & Rail
The rivers, canals and railroads that connected this place between 1830 and 1911.
Notable People
The people born, buried or genuinely tied to this exact place, with their stories.
Historical Maps
Historic maps of the location layered over how it looks today.
Finds & Access
Museum objects tied to the area, and the laws on searching, collecting and access here.
Literature
The old books, county histories and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Points of Interest
The most significant historic sites and landmarks near the location, and why they matter.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from first peoples to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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